Global announces its 2014-15 primetime schedule

Source: The Loop

The Canadian upfronts continued on Wednesday morning with broadcaster Shaw Media unveilling its 2014-15 primetime lineup for main network Global. The fall schedule–like in years past–contains no scripted Canadian series and plenty of U.S. acquisition programming, although the previously announced second season of Remedy returns midseason alongside Big Brother Canada, which has been renewed for a third season and will move from Slice to Global. In terms of unscripted content, the third season of NatGeo series Border Security will air Fridays at 10 p.m. until NBC’s Constantine debuts on Oct. 24.

This season, Shaw has picked up so many programs there is no longer room for all of them on the schedule. Bad Judge starring Kate Walsh (Private Practice) and A to Z starring Cristin Milioti (How I Met Your Mother) debut in NBC’s 9 p.m. hour on Oct. 2, were both amongst the acquisition programming announced in a release, but Fox’s Gracepoint currently holds that Thursday night hour. Global has also picked up NBC’s State of Affairs from former Grey’s Anatomy star Katherine Heigl to complement its Monday night lineup of sophomore dramas The Blacklist (which moves to Thursdays at 9 p.m. when Affairs debuts) and Sleepy Hollow. NCIS LA, which has moved to the 10 p.m. hour Mondays on CBS, will air in a pre-release at 8 p.m. on Global.

Naturally, the network has also picked up the New Orleans based NCIS spinoff to pair with the original on Tuesday nights, leading into a third season of Chicago Fire on Sept. 23. Fire‘s spinoff, Chicago PD, however will now air an hour before its NBC offering on Wednesday nights, making room for chilling CBS drama Stalker starring Maggie Q (Nikita) and Dylan McDermott (American Horror Story) in the 10 p.m. hour.

This season also marks a departure from Global’s traditional strategy of drama acquisitions thanks to the aforementioned comedy pickups, alongside Fox’s Mulaney (airing in a pre-release Sunday nights), NBC’s Marry Me, which will be paired in a post-release Fridays alongside the second season of About a Boy, and FX series Partners starring Kelsey Grammer and Martin Lawrence, which debuts sometime this summer. There was no mention of homegrown comedy Working the Engels returning for a second season; after low Wednesday night ratings the series is not expected to return unless it does extremely well in the U.S. when it airs on NBC this July. The Simpsons and Family Guy also return, although the animated comedies will air in a post-release at 10 p.m. in order for The Good Wife to air in simulcast with CBS at 9 p.m.

Heroes Reborn, the revival of the 2006 series, and Mark Burnett’s four-hour miniseries The Dovekeepers join the schedule midseaon. The second half of Rookie Blue‘s fifth season will also air sometime next year.